Addictive Consumption

The Making of Modern Consumption could also be titled The Making of Modern Addictive Consumption. Back in the sixteenth century people mainly bought items that would benefit their families, times have changed. Today people buy everything and anything. It doesn’t matter if it’s for the family or just a personal gratification, it gets purchased even if it means going in debt. What McCracken says about he eighteenth century,” Goods have suddenly become tokens in the status game and they were being consumed with alacrity.” is still true today, people buy certain cars, clothing, jewelry as status even if it means financial ruin. There is an over abundance of consumption, maybe we owe this to Elizabeth I, or to the modern shopping mall. Either way, our society is so out of control with consumption that our planet is being treated like a GIANT cesspool. Material objects have a shelf life, and when their time is up, we usually send them to the landfill. It has become an epidemic; the credit companies are fueling this uncontrollable consumer consumption by giving credit to unqualified individuals and not educating the public about consumer credit. It is evident by the economy that the majority of the population is in debt because of the "hedonistic consumer". Our consumption in this society is so bad, we even named it to reflect a disease, shopaholic. Living in Wilmington, Vermont has subdued my shopping addictions. The closest mall is well over an hour away. Living in a rural area has also helped me realize the importance of a no consuming attitude towards unnecessary material items that are not essential. In California people are going bankrupt and losing their houses left and right. I would have been right along with them if I stayed out there. Shopping malls and boutiques are the scenery of southern California. It is as if there is nothing else to do but shop. Every where you look, there is a marketing tool which is so clever and thought out, that it sucks the money out of your pocket like water through a hose. People may laugh at what I’m saying, but it is an extremely easy trend to get caught in. Society has the responsibility to live within its financial means and stay away from over spending, a practice that the United States government is not representing. When will the day come when we will look past the material exterior, and look into the warm loving soul that we all have deep inside?
The twenty-first century looks to be a time of correcting. In the past market prices were subject to barter, but present day is reverting back to the past. A price tag in a boutique use to be at face value, but as we feel the pain of this recession, price tags are becoming negotiable. Figuring ways to reduce our waste and carbon foot prints will be in the hands of the consumer. The consumer has the power to control the consumption of the modern age. Working together we will be able to instill this knowledge on our children, forming a more environmental consciousness. Hopefully we can teach our children the lessons we have learned from our mistakes,or maybe we are all in denial, and think our environmental waste problems, will magically disappear.